Performers, Cast and Crew:

Entertainment Reviews:

New York Times - 04/09/2008
"Ms. Spiro, who has a long-term history in nonfiction film, carefully and unobtrusively follows Mr. Young through his day-to-day life in observational fashion."

Los Angeles Times - 04/28/2008
"Like so many recent documentaries on the Iraq war, BODY OF WAR makes no bones about its activism....It's the willingness to contextualize events and apply reason to them that makes it and others so valuable."

Product Description:

Tomas Young is another casualty of the war in Iraq. After less than a week on duty, a bullet wound to the back left him paralyzed. This emotional documentary follows the veteran as he returns home and undergoes a transformation, becoming one of the many voices protesting the war. Directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, BODY OF WAR features two original songs performed by Eddie Vedder.

Description by New Video Group:

Paralyzed from the chest down after serving in Iraq for just one week, 25-year-old Tomas Young is forced to deal with the realities of war each and every day. For Tomas, learning to cope with his disability meant finding his voice to speak out against the war in Iraq.

Directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro and set to the haunting vocals of Eddie Vedder, the multi award-winning BODY OF WAR splits its time between Tomas's arduous daily reality in Kansas City, MO, and the legislative processes that led up to the invasion of Iraq in 2002. Senatorial speeches and a running tally of pro-war votes are interspliced with intimate footage of Tomas as he navigates through the acute physical and emotional impacts of his injury. A testament to the power of parallel images, the film adeptly juxtaposes the sanitized vantage point of Washington with raw personal experience. In the end, this contrast forces viewers to question the motives, methods, and ever-rising cost of the conflict in Iraq.

A deeply moving and bracingly honest film, BODY OF WAR narrates a story that must be heard - a story of courage, conviction, and resistance.